When I was more of a spring chicken than I am now, a senior associate invited me to tag along at a Superior Court motion calendar hearing. “It’s time you learn what formal, ready, and ready subject mean,” she said. …
The Power of Art in Learning and Understanding the Law
Jim Murphy, the Chair Emeritus of the federal District of Rhode Island’s litigation academy (I just made that title up, but it seems appropriate), is renowned for his stirring lectures during academy programs. Like all faculty of the litigation academy,…
Let’s Confer About Conferring and Then Confer: Latest Proposed Change to Federal Rules Is Further Evidence Judges Don’t Like Discovery Disputes
On August 15, 2018, the federal Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure released its latest proposed change to the federal rules of civil procedure to require opposing parties to confer in good faith when serving deposition notices to organizations under…
Federal Criminal Jury Trial Begins Today in Courtroom 3 at 9 a.m.
In 2017, juries decided only three federal criminal cases in the United States District Court in Rhode Island. The federal courthouse is full of courtrooms, but rarely are those courtrooms full with juries. Today, Wednesday, August 8, a federal criminal…
R.I. Supreme Court ’17-’18 Term in Review: Who Wrote What, and How Criminal Defendants and Pro Se Litigants Fared
It’s the end of July and the Rhode Island Supreme Court has not published an opinion since July 3. The hiatus likely means the Court is done for term 2017-2018 and will not issue another published opinion until the 2018-2019…
The Map Room of Janus: Thoughts on the Thinking of the U.S. Supreme Court and What Comes Next
The map room scene is one of the best moments in the original Raiders of the Lost Ark movie. Indiana Jones drops into the ancient map room of Tanis to locate the Lost Ark. Someone has already been there but…